Jude

6 Episodes

Jude is a short New Testament letter that most scholars date to the late first or early second century CE and do not attribute to the historical brother of Jesus. It is especially notable for its pseudepigraphic authorship claim, its polemical attack on rivals, and its explicit use of 1 Enoch as authoritative prophecy.

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Why this book matters

Jude keeps surfacing on the show because it condenses several recurring Data Over Dogma themes into a single chapter: pseudepigraphic authorship, late New Testament composition, and the instability of later canon boundaries. The letter presents itself as coming from Jude, brother of James, but the discussion around its date and literary dependence places it much later than that claimed setting, making it a compact case study in how authority could be constructed through attribution.

It also matters because Jude preserves a snapshot of an early Christian scriptural world that was less settled than later readers often imagine. Its direct quotation of 1 Enoch and treatment of that material as prophecy make the book useful whenever the conversation turns to canon formation, angel traditions, and the mismatch between what ancient authors treated as authoritative and what later Christian canons kept or excluded.

Where to start

Start here for the strongest listening on Jude.

Quotes from the Data

“Because this letter was probably written closer to the end of the first century CE or the beginning of the second century CE. It was probably not written contemporaneous with the life of James, the brother of Jesus. And so is probably pseudepigraphic, meaning that the person was probably writing in someone else's name, falsely arrogating their identity and thus their authority.”

Dan McClellan Episode 104

“It probably was written in the name of this other person and probably sent. But yeah, probably not by the actual Jude, the brother of James and the brother of Jesus.”

Dan McClellan Episode 104

“You will have apologists today who will be like, just because they quote something doesn't mean that he's endorsing its inspiration or its authority. But he doesn't just say Enoch said this. He said Enoch prophesied.”

Dan McClellan Episode 104

“This is pretty clearly the author of Jude asserting the inspiration, the authority, the scriptural nature of the book of First Enoch.”

Dan McClellan Episode 104

All episodes

Every episode currently tagged with Jude.